KARACHI, June 25: Federal Health Ministry has asked the Interior Ministry, as well as the Federal Investigation Agency's Director, to trace the whereabouts of Dr Akmal Waheed , a cardiologist at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, allegedly abducted more than a week back.

NICVD Acting Director Dr Asadullah Kundi talking to the APP on Friday said that in view of the deep concern expressed by the institute's doctors regarding the whereabouts of their colleagues, the institute's administration had informed the federal health minister of the scenario, and the ensuing developments at NICVD during the last few days.

"It is this morning that we received faxed copies of the dispatch forwarded by the Health Ministry to the FIA and other concerned departments to help find out the whereabouts of the doctor and his brother Dr Irshad Waheed," he added.

Answering a question, he said the NICVD doctors were keen to know about the safety of their colleagues and were very clear that if there was any charges against them, they might be made public and doctors would not interfere into the issue.

Dr Kundi said the doctors had also assured that they did not want to cause any inconvenience to patients, but they and the family members of their colleagues must be informed about the whereabouts of the two brothers, one of whom happened to be their senior colleague.

Responding to a query, he said the NICVD was receiving 800 to 1,000 patients daily at its OPD, including some 200 to 300 emergency cases, besides 40-50 new admissions each day, and added that it could not afford a situation where doctors refused to attend the patients.

PROTEST DEMO: The NICVD doctors staged a demo to protest over the disappearance of their colleagues, Dr Akmal Waheed and Dr Arshad Waheed, and urged the government to recover them soon, adds PPI.

Doctors suspended their duties from 11am onwards and held their consecutive 8th meeting on the issue, causing frustration among the patients.

They walked to the NICVD's main gate, where members of the NICVD Staff Action Committee spoke to the participants of the demo. They said that they did not want to get involved in politics, nor had any political agenda.

"Patients of both the doctors were suffering at the hospital, as they were not treating them since June 17," they added. "We will continue our protest till the recovery of both doctors," they added.